Port San Luis approves 50-year lease for Harbor Terrace

Karen GarciaFeb 8, 2018 4:00 AM

After four decades of discussion, research, and starts and stops, the Port San Luis Harbor District finally moved the 32-acre Harbor Terrace project forward, unanimously approving a 50-year lease with Red Tail Acquisitions at the commission's Jan. 31 meeting.

Harbor Manager Andrea Lueker said that the board was excited to be at this point with the project after two years of negotiations with Red Tail Acquisitions.

"This district has always used this opportunity as not only a project to generate money but more importantly or just as importantly, it's a public benefit to all those in California that are able to use this property for camping use," Lueker said.

The development will provide space for low cost overnight accommodations—57 recreational vehicle (RV) sites, 53 walk-in and drive-in tent camping sites, and 51 RV cabins. A lodge, swimming pool, restaurant, recreation facilities, and other visitor amenities will also be included.

The fishermen's gear storage, trailer boat storage, and harbor use area, which exist on the site, will remain in their current locations and continue to be used as part of port operations.

The California Coastal Development permit is in place, and Red Tail Acquisitions is now working with San Luis Obispo County on grading and building permits. The project is slated to break ground in the spring/summer of 2019, with a tentative construction period of eight months.

The project was originally conceived in 1977, when the Harbor Commission purchased the majority of the land for the development. In 2015, the Harbor Commission terminated its agreement with the HomeFed Corporation and signed on with Red Tail Acquisitions.

At the meeting, Lueker thanked the current staff and those before them for all the work they did to get the project to this point.

"I'm going to say everybody who has touched this project has worked hard to get to where we are, which is really, in my humble opinion, with only a two-and-a-half year employment with the district, a monumental step for the district," she said. Δ